WWE has confirmed that NXT star Austin theory will be making his WrestleMania debut this year and competing in the Raw Tag Team Championship match at the show.
The latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter provides some details on this change and reveals why the 22-year-old star was chosen to replace Andrade on the event.
According to the report, the decision to put Theory in this bout was made by none other than the Raw Executive Director Paul Heyman, who is responsible for pushing many unused stars in recent times.
Heyman is high on The Raw Tag Team Champions, The Street Profits and the United States Champion Andrade and it seems the same can be said for Austin Theory and his partner Angel Garza as well.
For those who don’t know, The US Champion Andrade suffered a rib injury during a Raw episode two weeks ago and he wasn’t cleared to compete at WrestleMania.
Due to his injury, WWE altered the plans for his match at the Show Of Shows and brought in the NXT star to replace the Mexican wrestler at the PPV event.
Austin Theory has not wrestled much on NXT TV but he has been wrestling in the independent circuit since 2016. He held the Evolve Championship for a while before signing with WWE and has wrestled for companies such as CMLL in Mexico as well.
Austin Theory will now be teaming up with Angel Garza to challenge the Street Profits for The Raw Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania. You can check out an updated match card for the event here.